S-video on CAT 5 cable

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I've been asked about a situation where a guy wants to run a BenQ DLP on S-video. He already has a run of CAT 5 cable reaching the distance he wants to span. Can 4 of the 8, CAT 5 wires be used to transmit the S-video signal over 500 feet or so with little signal loss or will it shed signal all over the wires? I think he's also hoping to push the L & R audio through the other four wires. I couldn't answer his question but would like to. Anyone have an idea or experience with this?

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I've been asked about a situation where a guy wants to run a BenQ DLP on S-video. He already has a run of CAT 5 cable reaching the distance he wants to span. Can 4 of the 8, CAT 5 wires be used to transmit the S-video signal over 500 feet or so with little signal loss or will it shed signal all over the wires? I think he's also hoping to push the L & R audio through the other four wires. I couldn't answer his question but would like to. Anyone have an idea or experience with this?

Maximum length on a dedicated S-video cable with optimum signal is about 150 feet. 500 on a cat 5 with audio? Cat five is nothing more than balanced twisted pair with not shield and you think you are going to send audio too? Ain't gonna be pretty. Nope, will not work.

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I thought so, as well. Analog signal over unshielded small strand was a stretch. Since I had never heard it done before, pro or con, I couldn't speak with authority. He ought to use HDMI extenders and receivers. But, he was looking for a cheaper solution.

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I thought so, as well. Analog signal over unshielded small strand was a stretch. Since I had never heard it done before, pro or con, I couldn't speak with authority. He ought to use HDMI extenders and receivers. But, he was looking for a cheaper solution.

You'll need about 15 repeaters if you use HDMI at that length. And you'll need input and output breakouts on both ends. Very costly.

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There is, however, nothing stopping you putting S down a pair of 75-ohm coax lines - other than the many times larger cost than cat5 would have been.

This is what SDI is for, folks. There are HDMI to/from SDI converters.

P

Yea but then it doesn't offer audio. He suggested HDMI but he started out saying S-video so HDMI would mean another device to make his video fit down HDMI. Nothing is going to be free here. The link I gave gives a audio and s-video solution for about $350.

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Audio over CAT-5 is easy, CAT-5 is twisted pair cable with a nominal characteristic impedance of 110 ohms. Each pair has a different rate of twist which keeps down crosstalk. All you have to do is treat it as what it as, unshielded balanced pair cable. Drive it and receive it with true balanced equipment such as transformers, line-level professional audio gear, etc. Ma Bell runs DSL and ISDN high speed data over cabling many years old that's not much different than CAT-5.

For the video, I'd run cheap RG-6 type cable, it's 75 ohm impedance just like most video cabling.

Ethernet (100BaseT) networking only uses two of the four pairs in CAT-5 (green/green-white & orange/orange-white are the standard wire pairs used for networks). I run control signalling, ISDN tip and ring, etc. all over the place on the extra pairs in installed CAT-5 computer network cabling with no trouble.

CAT-5 is increasingly being used for theatrical DMX control, AES digital audio, and other professional uses because of its relatively cheap cost, ease of installation, and the huge range of installation tools, connectors, and hardware so easily obtained just about anywhere.

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Audio over CAT-5 is easy, CAT-5 is twisted pair cable with a nominal characteristic impedance of 110 ohms. Each pair has a different rate of twist which keeps down crosstalk. All you have to do is treat it as what it as, unshielded balanced pair cable. Drive it and receive it with true balanced equipment such as transformers, line-level professional audio gear, etc. Ma Bell runs DSL and ISDN high speed data over cabling many years old that's not much different than CAT-5.

For the video, I'd run cheap RG-6 type cable, it's 75 ohm impedance just like most video cabling.

Ethernet (100BaseT) networking only uses two of the four pairs in CAT-5 (green/green-white & orange/orange-white are the standard wire pairs used for networks). I run control signalling, ISDN tip and ring, etc. all over the place on the extra pairs in installed CAT-5 computer network cabling with no trouble.

CAT-5 is increasingly being used for theatrical DMX control, AES digital audio, and other professional uses because of its relatively cheap cost, ease of installation, and the huge range of installation tools, connectors, and hardware so easily obtained just about anywhere.

I went to Gefen. Everything needed by the guy is right there. I should have looked there first. I've got Gefen products for my IBM DG5. They're good quality at good prices. I should have known to look there.

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Guest Sandrasandra

Guest Sandrasandra

What you need to understand is, HDMI cables give you high-quality digital signals from all digital devices. If you are not using an HDMI cable from you digital device, you can simply tend to use the potential of digital devices, especially when using the HD-TV. What happens is the quality of high definition digital broadcast signals are lost when not using an HDMI cable, and what you see and hear was away from the incredible potential available.